Enrico: ”Van Duuren is our rock in the Mediterranean branding”
The special tapas in the delicatessen, but also the well-known green olives in the supermarket. There’s a big chance that these delicacies have been imported by Enrico. “We work with both the wholesalers and the specialist shops,” relates purchasing manager Remco Bregten. “The assortment that we bring in for these clients certainly is varied. A delicatessen is more likely to be on the lookout for innovative and as yet unknown specialities, while the more customary, better-known products are to be found in the bigger stores. It is important for these larger chains that their goods can be delivered quickly and in larger quantities. Each market sector offers us its own individual challenges, but also its opportunities.” Challenges that are seized upon by this importer of Mediterranean specialities as, despite the crisis, Enrico is outgrowing its premises. Bregten: “In November we shall get the key to the unit next door and will then be able to double our office space. We wouldn’t be doing that if our import activities weren’t increasing.”
“More import means more transport, for which we are experiencing an increasing demand,” adds Ed Kooijman, sales manager at Van Duuren Districenters. “In the beginning of my contact with Enrico the amount of transport we did for them was pretty modest, but every year there has been more for us to do for them.”
As a result of this growth the perspective within Enrico on transport has changed, according to Remco Bregten. “Initially our first priority was just getting the goods into the Netherlands. But as the volume of transport increases, concepts such as efficiency and cost-effectiveness have gained importance. Some time ago we therefore looked at a number of different possibilities, and regional transporters were also considered. For countries such as Italy and France we still ended up with Van Duuren Districenters as a qualitatively good, flexible and reliable transporter that can match up to our high expectations.”
The standards that Enrico sets on transport are so high because the importer is also responsible for the safety of the fresh produce. Bregten: “We
are ourselves HACCP certified and we expect of the companies with whom we work that they also look after our goods with food safety in mind. A transport company such as Van Duuren Districenters understands that.”
Deliveries for Enrico run via a tight and efficient schedule in which every week the products are collected in Italy on Mondays and arrive in the Netherlands on Wednesdays. At least, so long as everything goes according to the book. “It can happen that I need something urgently, or that I don’t really know how many pallets are actually ready for collection,” says purchasing assistant Monique Eggink. “It’s always a relief to realize how a situation like that is dealt with by the planners in Vianen.” This also applies to the imports from Greece. These products are generally delivered to the Netherlands by the Greeks themselves, but in
the summer it regularly happens that Van Duuren Districenters has to take this transport over. Eggink: “That is the time when the melons are being harvested and then it’s impossible to get a lorry in Greece. At moments like that I’m happy that I have the drivers in Vianen as a second string to my bow!”